Chapter 735 Just Beginning

"General Osheim, listen to me. First of all, I want to emphasize that our air force did not intend to not escort the bombers. It's just that the recent air battles with the Russians have caused great losses to our fighter units, and our personnel and equipment are almost at their limit."

"In addition, a considerable number of fighters need to be dispatched during the day to block the surface of the Volga River. The Russians have established a complete and dense anti-aircraft artillery position on both sides of the river. Low-speed and bulky fighters cannot break through the blockade at all, and those Russian boats run very fast. It is difficult to achieve the ideal effect by bombing the river surface at high altitude. Only close-range low-altitude attack is the only way."

Major General Osheim still chose to listen quietly without changing his expression, and Major Steinner's explanation continued quietly.

"It takes a lot of fighters to block the Volga River, and the fighter units that the Russians have transferred from other directions are also joining the battlefield to support us."

"Although it is the same Stalingrad theater, our air force is actually fighting on two fronts. We must ensure that we have control over the air in the city, and we must ensure the continuous blockade of the Volga River during the day, so that the Russians at least cannot comfortably transport supplies and support into the city. This is the biggest help for your army's operations."

After hearing this, Major General Osheim's eyebrows jumped. He wanted to say a few words to refute but couldn't find any suitable excuse. What Major Steinner said was indeed impeccable.

Seeing that Major General Osheim's lips moved twice but finally chose to remain silent, Major Steinner, who was sure that his explanation should have worked, immediately opened his mouth to continue.

"I think you should have basically understood why our fighter units did not appear in time. The sky over Stalingrad is very wide, and there are many defensive airspaces from south to north that need to be taken into account. It is impossible for our fighters to be comprehensive and always appear in time."

"You also saw the battle just now. The Russians should have invested in a new type of fighter. This is different from all the Russian fighters I have seen before. The performance can be said to be very different. I can see it clearly from the ground."

"The outcome of this air battle has no suspense from the beginning. It can't even be called an air battle, but a one-sided massacre. Protecting bombers is one of the missions of fighters. The mission was not completed because we didn't want to complete it, General Osheim, but because our current capabilities are indeed difficult to complete such a goal as planned."

Major Steinner took the blame completely. Major General Osheim, who didn't understand the air force at all, was even directly put into it and was confused. He only knew that the air force should not bear the blame, nor the army, but in short, the German army should not bear the blame.

Should the Russians bear the blame?

Major General Osheim was not clear in his mind, and felt a little headache from thinking about it. In the end, he could only use the result of "maybe" to evade himself.

The chief of staff, who looked at Major General Osheim's strange expression, couldn't help but sigh, secretly sighing that Major Steiner was really eloquent. Osheim asked so many roundabout questions in one sentence, and even he could only barely understand the general idea at that extremely fast speed.

Although they couldn't fully understand the reason, at least Major General Osheim and his chief of staff couldn't fully understand it for a while.

But the obvious problem on the table at the moment is that the Stuka fleet, which was destroyed by the Russian fighter planes like cutting melons and vegetables after dropping only a dozen bombs, has been completely written off. According to Major General Osheim's estimate, the number of Russians killed by the dozen bombs may have just exceeded three digits.

In this case of air support failure, should we continue the attack?

Although this is a question worth thinking about, Major General Osheim did not have much time to think. The clock hand approaching the dark evening forced him to issue a combat order immediately, an order that Paulus hoped to see and ultimately pointed to the will of the Führer.

"There is no way. We have to attack even without those Stukas. Let's start as planned, right now."

Major General Osheim's tone was somewhat helpless, and the chief of staff who received the order beside him could clearly realize this. But this is an order that must be executed after all, and there is no chance to compromise. The chief of staff, who always felt uneasy in his heart, immediately conveyed Major General Osheim's order to start the attack in advance.

A full 15 minutes earlier than the scheduled time for the attack, the German soldiers who had already made all preparations before the attack jumped out of the trenches under the urging and order of their respective superiors, and followed the tanks and assault guns with black smoke billowing from the engine nozzles, crouching and advancing quickly, and the uneasy mood spread quietly like a plague.

"Did you see that? Those Stukas were beaten like dogs by the Russians just now. To be honest, this reminds me of the time in Poland."

"You should add that we are the Poles now, and those Russian planes are the winners with the upper hand."

"Be careful, the Russian fighters are coming!"

Before the voices of the people who were talking behind the tanks fell, the La-5 fighter that had just killed a group of pregnant German seagulls was already at full speed and throttle and dived straight down.

No air force in the world can tolerate the large-scale assembly of enemy ground forces under its nose, and even dare to launch an offensive against its own ground forces.

Even though these very early La-5 fighters only had small-caliber cannons and large-caliber machine guns, even if they hit the armor of the German tanks, it would be useless.

However, the large number of German infantrymen following the tanks like locusts were so eye-catching and eye-catching in the sky, and were also the primary hunting targets targeted by Soviet pilots.

"Damn it! Get out of the way, scatter! Russians are flying"

Bang bang bang——

Da da da——

Swish——

Ah!!!

The roar of cannons and machine guns overwhelmed the roar of the rapidly attacking engines, and together with the screams of the German infantrymen who swept through a deep red blood mist in the crowd, formed a battlefield concerto, echoing over the battlefield for a long time.

After the battle, the La-5 fighters, which had little reserve ammunition left, plowed the German infantry formation twice with their agile movements. The barrage attack caused considerable casualties to the German infantry.

The La-5 fighters, which had used up all their ammunition, patted their butts, leaving behind a pile of German infantry corpses, and quickly flew away.

What Major General Osheim, who was slightly relieved after witnessing this scene, did not expect was that.

A bigger disaster had just begun when these La-5 fighters, which were like troublemakers, flew away.